before his departure for BrufTels. I was
h.ghly delighted with his liberal; manly, and
truly Arabian fpirit ; neither did he appear
deficient in polite literature, but of this you
are a better judge than I am. For my own
part, 1 muft ever retain a regard for a man,
whofe converfation fo entertained and in-
terefted me, under the attack of a fever, that
it ablblutely prevented the return of it.
* Mr. JONES to H. A. SCHULTENS.
October 1 774,
I have had the pleafure to receive
your letter dated in September, which did not
* Appendix, No. '26.
217
however reach me, till after my return to
London, from a fummer excurfion to the
Kentifh coaft.
1 am highly gratified by your father's and
your approbation of my Commentaries, and
I acknowledge the kindnefs of your friendly
and polite expostulation in telling me that you
cannot bear to fee me defert the caufe of li-
terature. But, my friend, the die is caft, and
1 have no longer a choice ; all my books and
manufcripts, with an exception of thofe only
which relate to law and oratory, are locked
up at Oxford, and I have determined, for the
next twenty years at leaft, to renounce all
(Indies but thofe which are connected with
my profeffion. It is needlefs to trouble you
with my reafons at length for this deter-
mination ; I will only fay, that if I had lived
at Rome or Athens, I mould have preferred
the labours, ftudies, and dangers of their
orators and illuftrious citizens, connected as
they were with banifhment and even death, to
the groves of the poets, or the gardens of the
philofophers. Here I adopt the fame refo -
218
lution. The Conftitution of England is in
no refpect inferior to that of Rome or Athens;
this is my fixed opinion, which I formed
in my earlieft years, and mall ever retain.
Although I fincerely acknowledge the charms
of polite literature, I muft at the fame time
adopt the fentiment of Neoptolemus in the
tragedy, that we can philofophize with a
few only ; and no lefs the axiom of Hip-
pocrates, that life is fhort, art long, and time
fwift. But I will alfo maintain the excel-
lence and the delight of other ftudies. What !
mail we deny that there is pleafure in ma-
thematics, when we recollect Archimedes,
the prince of geometricians, who was fo
intenfely abforbed in the demonftration of a
problem, that he did not difcover Syracufe
was taken ? Can we conceive any ftudy more
important, than the fingle one of the laws of
our own country ? Let me recall to your re-
collection the obfervations of L. CrafTus and
Q^Scaevola on this fubjecl:, in the treatife of
Cicero de Oratore. What ! do you imagine
the goddefs of eloquence to polTefs lefs at~
219
tra&ions than Thalia or Polyhymnia, or have
you forgotten the epithets which Ennius be-
ftows on Cethegus, the quintefTence of elo-
quence, and the flower of the people ? Is
there a man exifting who would not rather
refemble Cicero, (whom I wifh abfolutely to
make my model, both in the courfe of his
life and ftudies,) than be like Varro, however
learned, or Lucretius, however ingenious as a
poet ? If the ftudy of the law were really un-
pleafant and difgufting, which is far from the
truth, the example of the wifeft of the an-
cients, and of Minerva herfelf, the goddefs of
wifdom and protectrefs of Athens, would
juftify me in preferring the fruitful and ufeful
olive to the barren laurel.
To tell you my mind freely, I am not of
a difpofition to bear the arrogance of men of
rank, to which poets and men of letters are fo
often obliged to fubmit. Accept this friendly
reply to your friendly expoftulation, and be-
lieve my affurances, that I entertain the high-
eft value for your efteem, of which I have re-
ceived fo many proofs. I moft anxioufly ex-
220
pec"l your' differtation. May the Almighty
proiper your labours, and particularly your
laborious talk of Meidani ! May the moft
learned Scheidius perfevere with refolution in
completing the gigantic work, which he
meditates ! 1 admire his molt laudable in-
duftry ; but after the fate of Meninfki, (I do
not fpeak of his works, but of his fortunes)
no prudent man (for he that is not wife to
himfelf, is wife to no crA) will venture to ex-
pofe his veffel to the perils of ihipwreck in
fo uncertain a fea. The work is worthy of a
king, but the expenfe of it will require the
revenue of a king.
My mother and lifter cordially unite with
me in congratulations on your marriage, and
I beg you to make my compliments to your
amiable confort, and moil refpedlable father.
I thank you for your invitation to Amfler-
dam, and allure you that I ihould be moft
happy to avail myfelf of it. I n your focicty,
I ihould prefer a winter in Holland to the
gardens of the Hefperides, nor indulge a wifli
for the vales of Teinpc, but my legal occu-
221
pations make the fummer more convenient
for travelling. 1 promife you therefore to
pafs fome time with you in the July, or Au-
guft, of the next or following year.
I rejoice to find you pleafcd with Jofepb
the Syrian, and equally fo that he means to
travel through Germany. His hiftory is
fomewhat long. ]f I had not exerted myfelf
in my application to fome men of rank in
London, who have accefs to the King, he
muft have paffed a life of mifery here, or have
died mod wretchedly.
The bookfeller keeps for you the books
which you defired to purchafe. You cannot
as yet have received a fhort letter which I
wrote to you in July, and fent by a young
gentleman of the name of Campbell. The
fon of the king of Spain, Prince Gabriel, did
me the honour to fend me a mod fplendid
copy of his Salluft, for which 1 returned my
grateful acknowledgments.
You have doubtlefs heard of the travels of
Mr. Bruce, a native of Scotland, into Syria,
Arabia, Abyfiinia, Nubia,_ and Egypt. He is
222
as well acquainted with the coaft of the Red
Sea, and the fources of the Nile, as with his
own houfe. He has brought with him fome
iEthiopic raanufcripts, and amongft them the
Prophecies of Enoch, an ancient book, but to
be ranked only with the Sibylline oracles.
Whilft I was writing this letter, a perfon
called upon me with a manufcript, which he
had received at Venice from Mr. Montague,
a man of family. I immediately perceived it
to be a moft beautiful and correct copy of
Motanabbi, with a letter addrefled to myfelf
in Arabic verfe, from fome perfon. named Ab-
durrahman, whom Mr. Montague had pro-
bably feen in Afia. I owe great obligations
to the politenefs of the learned Arab, but I
by no means think myfelf worthy of his ex-
aggerated encomiums; — but you know the
pompous ftyle of the Orientals. Do not fup-
pofe that I have any prefent intention of read-
ing the poems of Motanabbi ; that muft be
referved for Oxford, when I have leifure to
attend to this, and my other treafures of the
fame kind. Believe my aflurance, that I
223
entertain the higheft efteem for you, and that
nothing will give me greater pleafure than to
hear from you frequently and at length. Take
care of your health, and continue your regard
for me.
Mr. HOWARD to Mr. JONES.
^ 1R » Paris, September l'l, 1774.
As my ftay here may be con-
fiderably longer than I at firft propofed, it is
a duty incumbent on me to acquit myfelf of
a charge committed to my care in the month
of June laft by Mr. Montague, at Venice, by
tranfmitting to you the manufcript which ac-
companies this letter. I mould indeed have
fent it to you much fooner, but the hopes I
had of an earlier return to England, was the
caufe of my poftponing it, that I might myfelf
have had the pleafure of delivering it, w T hich
I flattered myfelf might have ferved as an in-
troduction to the honour of your acquaint-
ance, a happinefs which, without compliment,
I have long been very ambitious of. But as
my affairs are likely to detain me fome time
224
longer in this city, I cannot with any pro-
priety prefer my own intereft to a more ma-
terial one ; nor ought I longer to injure the
public, by depriving them of the pleafure and
advantage they may reap from this manu-
fcript's coming to your hands. Mr. Mon-
tague loaded me with compliments to you,
meant as real teftimonies of the efteem he has
for you, which I am very unfortunate in not
having the pleafure of delivering.
I have the honour to be, &c.
Mid. Howard.
Mr. JONES to Mr. HOWARD.
Sir, Oct. 4, 1774.
I cannot exprefs how much I
am flattered by the kind attention, with which
you honour me. I have juft received your
moft obliging letter, with a line Arabic ma-
nufcript, containing the works of a celebrated
poet, with whom I have been long acquaint-
ed j this teftimony of Mr. Montague's regard
is extremely pleafmg to me, and I have a
moll grateful fenfe of his kindnefs. I am.
225
confcious how little I have deferved the many-
honours I have lately received from the learned
in Europe and Afia; I can afcribe their polite-
nefs to nothing but their candour and bene-
volence. I fear they will think me ftill lefs
deferving, when they know that I have de-
fer ted, or rather fufpended, all literary purfuits
whatever, and am wholly engaged in the ftudy
of a profeffion, for which I was always in-
tended. As the law is a jealous fcience, and
will not have any partnerfhip with the Eaftern
mufes, I muft abfolutely renounce their ac-
quaintance for ten or twelve years to come.
This manufcript however is highly accept-
able to me, and mall be preferved among
my choiceft treafures, till I have leifure to
give it an attentive perufal. There is a com-
pliment to me written in Arabic verfe in the
firft leaf of the book, and figned Abdurrah-
man Beg ; the verfes are very fine, but fo
full of Oriental panegyric, that I could not
read them without blufbing. The prefent
feems to come from the learned Arabian ;
but as he has not inferted my name in his
life— V. I. Q
2'26
vcrfes, and fpeaks of Oxford, he muft have
heard me mentioned by Mr. Montague, to
whom therefore I am equally indebted for
the prefent. If I knew Mr. Montague's
direction, I would fend him a letter of thanks
for his indulgence to me, and would alfo re-
turn my compliments in Arabic to his Afia-
tic friend, who feems to have fent the book.
Before your return to England, I mall pro-
bably be removed to the Temple, where I
fliall wait impatiently for the pleafure of fee-
ing you.
I am, 8zc.
William Jones.
Mr. WADDILOVE to Mr. JONES.
SlR, St. Ildefonso,Aug. l, 1774.
Upon my arrival at Madrid, I
delivered your prefent of your Aiiatic Com-
mentaries to my friend Dr. F co Perez Bayer ;
he defires me to return you his compliments
and thanks for your politenefs to him, and
begs your acceptance of a copy of the Infant
Don Gabriel's Sail lift, which he accordingly
£27
fent to me the night before we left Madrid.
As we fhall not be there again till next Chrift-
mas, I ihall have no opportunity of forward-
ing it to you very foon ; whenever any one
offers, you may depend upon receiving it,
but as this probably will not be before next
fpring, I hope you will not defer acknowledg-
ing the favour till then. If you mould wifh
to fee the Salluft before you write again to
Mr. Bayer, you will find a copy in the Mu-
feum. If you have had any time to examine
the DiflTertation upon the Phoenician Lan-
guage, &c., Dr. F. P. Bayer will be glad of
any remarks upon it, as a new edition of it
in Latin will foon be printed. He has a
curious collection of Samaritan coins, and is
now employed upon that fubjecl ; and if he
could be prevailed upon to publifh more of
his enquiries into the antiquities of this and
other countries, the learned world would be
much indebted to him. Cafiri is engaged at
prefent in deciphering Moorifh infcriptions,
which have been found in different parts of
Spain. Some are already engraved, but not
Q_2
228
yet publifhed. He reduces firft the characters
to the modern Arabic, and then gives a trans-
lation and comment in Latin. Your Sallufl
is unbound, and you have already the differ-
tation to add to it.
I am, &c.
R. D. Waddilove,
* Mr, JONES to F. P. BAYER.
Oct. 4, 1774.
I can fcarceiy find words to ex-
press my thanks for your obliging prefent of
a moft beautiful and fplendid copy of Salluft,
with an elegant Spanifh tranflation. You
have beftowed upon me, a private untitled in-
dividual, an honour which heretofore has
only been conferred upon great monarchs,
and illuftrious univerfities. I really was at a
lols to decide, whether I fhould begin my let-
ter by congratulating you on having fo ex-
cellent a tranflator, or by thanking you for
this agreeable proof of your remembrance. I
look forward to the increafing fplendour,
* Appendix, No. C'T
229
which the aits and fciences mud attain in a
country, where the fon of the king pofTefles
genius and erudition, capable of tranflating
and illuftrating with learned notes, the firft of
the Roman hiftorians; howfewyouths amongft
the nobility in other countries pofTefs the re-
quifite ability or inclination for fuch a tafk !
The hiftory of Sallufl is a performance of
great depth, wifdom, and dignity: to under-
ftand it well, is no fmall praife ; to explain it
properly, is {till more commendable ; but to
tranflate it elegantly, excites admiration. If
all this had been accomplished by a private
individual, he would have merited applaufe ;
if by a youth, he would have had a claim to
literary honours; but when to the title of
youth, that of prince is added, we cannot too
highly extol, or too loudly applaud, his dif-
tinguilhed merit.
Many years are elapfed fince I applied my-
felf to the ftudy of your learned language,
but I well remember to have read in it with
great delight the heroic poem of Alonzo, the
odes of GarcilaiTo, and the humorous (lories
230
of Cervantes : but I moll: finccrely declare,
that I never perufed a more elegant or polifhed
compofition than the tranflation of Salluft,
and I readily fubfcribe to the opinion of the
learned author in his preface, that the Spanifh
language approaches very nearly to the dig-
nity of the Latin.
May the accomplished youth continue to
deferve w°ll of his country and mankind, and
eftablifh his claim to diftinction above all the
princes of the age ! If I may be allowed to
offer my fentiments, I would advife him to
fludy moft diligently the divine works of
Cicero, which no man, in my opinion, ever
perufed without improving in eloquence and
wifdom. The epiftle which he wrote to his
brother Quintus, on the government of a pro-
vince, deferves to be daily repeated by every
fovereign in the world ; his books on offices,
on moral ends, and the Tufculan queftions,
merit a hundred perufals ; and his orations,
nearly fixty in number, deferve to be tranf-
latcd into every European language ; nor do
I fcruple to affirm, that his fixteen books of
251
letters to Atticus, are fuperior to almoft all
hiftories, that of Salluft excepted. With re-
fpecl to your own compofitions, I have read
with great attention, and will again read,
your moft agreeable book. I am informed
that you propofe giving a Latin tranflation of
it, and I hope you will do it for the benefit
of foreigners. I fee nothing in it which re-
quires alteration, — nothing which is not en-
titled to praife. I much wifh that you would
publifh more of your treatifes on the an-
tiquities of Afia and Africa. I am confident
they would be moft acceptable to iuch as ftudy
thofe fubjecls. I have only for the prefent
to conclude by bidding you farewell in my
own name, and that of the republic of letters.
— Farewell.
* Mr. JONES to G. S. MICHAELIS.
Noreynbcr 1774.
I beg you will do me the juftice
to believe that I have read vour books with
great attention. I neither entirely admit, nor
* Appendix, No. 28.
232
reject your opinion on the fables of the He-
brews ; but until the fubject. be better known
and explored, I am unwilling to depart from
the received opinions concerning them. Your
approbation of my Commentaries gives me
fincere pleafure. Nothing is more true than
that I have renounced the Afiatic mufes and
polite literature, and that for twenty years
at leaft I have determined neither to write
nor think about them. The Forum is my
lot, and the Law engrofTes all my attention.
Be allured, however, that I fTiall ever retain
my efteem both for yourfelf and your works.
i — Farewell.
Mr. JONES to Lady SPENCER.
MADAM, Duke Street.
I take the liberty to prefent
your Ladyfhip with a copy of my poems,
and cannot refrain from acquainting you
with a plain truth, that the firft of them,
called Solima, would never have been written,
if I had never had the honour of knowing
your Ladyfhip,
233
* # #
I am juft come from Harrow, where it
gave me inexpreflible happinefs to fee Lord
Althorp perfectly well, extremely improved,
and defervedly beloved by all, as much as
by his real friend, and
Your Ladyfhip's
Moll obedient and faithful fervant,
William Jones.
Lady SPENCER to Mr. JONES.
SlR, Althorp, Jan. 10, 1775.
The continual hurry occafion-
ed by having a houfe full of company, added
to my not having been quite well, has pre-
vented my thanking you fooner for your
letter ; you cannot doubt of my being much
flattered, at your thinking you find any re-
femblance between my character and that of
Solima, and ftill more at your telling the
world you do : I fhall always look upon that
poem, as a model you have fet up for my
imitation, and fhall only be forry I do not
approach nearer to it, efpecially after you
234
have called upon me in fo public a manner,
to improve myfelf in the ways of virtue and
benevolence. I muft decline your fecond re-
queft, of criticifing, as I have neither time
nor talents for fuch an office, nor do I think
your works require it.
I am delighted with your invention of the
Andrometer, and wifh every body would
form one for themfelves ; it would be of
infinite ufe to numbers of people, who, from
indolence and diffipation, rather go back-
wards than forwards in every ufeful attain-
ment.
I am, Sir, with great efteem,
Your faithful friend and
humble fervant,
G. Spencer.
* H. A. SCHULTENS to Mr. JONES.
jlmsterdam, Jan. 6, 111~>.
Although the inceffant and
extraordinary occupations in which I am at
this time engaged, do not allow me to think
* Appendix, No. 29.
253
even of writing to my friends, I cannot re-
fufe a few lines to the molt learned Bjorn-
ftahl, both for the purpofe of introducing
him to you, and to fhew that I have not
forgotten you. You will find our Philarabic
Swede, a moll agreeable companion ; he has
not only travelled much, but is deeply vcrfed
in Oriental literature, of which he is very
fond. I think I may venture to promife
that the fociety of a perfon, who loves what
you JIM delight in, (for I will not with you
fay, what you once delighted in) will be
moft acceptable to you. * * * * * *
* Mr. JONES to C. REVICZKI.
London, February 1775.
Do not fuppofe that I have
forgotten you, becaufe I write to you {q
feldom ; I have not met with any perfon to
whom I could entruft my packet, and I have
no inclination to rifk my familiar letters by
the poft. I doubt if this will ever reach you,
and I fear therefore to write to you on any
* Appendix, No. 30.
236
fubject with my ufual freedom, as your lafl
letter of January, from Warfaw, was deliver-
ed to me opened : it is probable that you will
receive this in the fame manner. I am fo
conftantly occupied with law and politics,
that I have no leifure for literature. I have
published two books, and only want a fafe
opportunity to fend them to you. Write to
me, I befeech you, for your friendfhip is
my greater! delight. How much I wifh that
you were in England, or I in Germany, that
we might live together !
After all, I could not think of accepting
the Turkifh embafTy. I will live in my own
country, which cannot eafily fpare good fub-
jects : it is fcarcely yet free from commo-
tion. — Oh ! how I mould rejoice if I could
fee you here in a diplomatic character : I
mould not then envy the monarchs of Eu-
rope or Alia.- — Farewell again and again.
CO i
* C. REVICZKI to Mr. JONES.
If you are fully fenfible of the
very great regard 1 entertain for you, you
will then conceive how much pleafure I felt
at the receipt of your highly valued letter.
IncefTantly occupied for a long time, I have
been compelled to forego the pleafure of cor-
refponding with you, and I the more readily
acknowledge your kindnefs in writing to me,
when I could have no expectation of hearing
from you. Though I think it more prudent
not to fay any thing, the difclofure of which
might be attended with unpleafant confe-
quences, I impute the opening of my letter
which you mention, rather to accident than
defign. Your bufinefs as a lawyer muft ne-
ceflarily engage your clofeft attention ; t can-
not therefore afk you to write to me often,
but thus much I wifh you to know, that I
ihall feon have more leifure for correfpond-
ing with you, as the late clofe of the Diet,
which Lifted for two years (in my eftimation
* Appendix, No. 31.
2cn
a century) has almoft left me at liberty. So
much for the affairs of this part of the world.
Of what is doing in your country, your let-
ter gives me no information ; but I hear from
other quarters, of the agitations amongft you*
in confequence of the commotions in the co-
lonies, which I confider worfe than a foreign
war. For my own part, I confefs to you
that I am tired both of my fituation and my
office, not fo much on account of their diffi-
culty as their unpleafantnefs, and all the con-
folation I feel arifes from the hope that my
prefent troublefome occupation will not Lift
more than a year.
I heartily wifh I were in London, and at
liberty to lit feriouily down to the compofi-
tion of fome political work on the fubjeft of
our republic ; the tafk would be no lefs ufe-
ful than agreeable, indeed I can conceive no-
thing more pleafant than fuch an employ-
ment.
If, contrary to my expectations, my wifh.
fhould be gratified, I hope to find you there,
and to enjoy as formerly your fociety and
23g
converiation. I am anxious to have your
laft publication, (the fubjecl: of which you do
not mention,) and doubt not that the pcrufal
of it will afford me great pleafure. Farewell,
and think of me always with affeclion.
k- * * * # *
The preceding correfpondence proves the
high degree of eflirnation in which the learn-
ing and abilities of Mr. Jones were holden
by the literati of Europe ; and. we find that
his reputation had extended into Alia, From
the manner in which he mentions his renun-
ciation of the embaffy to Conitantinople, it is
evident that his attention was ftrongly fixed
upon the political date of his own country.
The Andrometer> mentioned by Lady
Spencer to have been invented by Mr.
[ones, affords a linking ipecimen of the
extent of his views, in the acquifition of
intellectual excellence. It may be defined,
A fcale of human attainments and enjoyment ;
he affumcs feventy years, as the limit of ex-
ertion or enjoyment ; and with a view to
progreffive improvement, each year is appro-
240
priated to a particular fludy or occupation.
The arrangement of what was to be learned,
or practifed, during this period, admits of a
fourfold divifion.
The firft, comprifing thirty years, is af-
figned to the acquifition of knowledge as
preparatory to active occupation.
The fecond, of twenty years, is dedicated
principally to public and profeflional employ-
ment.
Of the third, which contains ten years, the
firft live are allotted to literary and fcientific
compofition, and the remainder to the con-
tinuation of former purfuits.
The laft ten, conltituting the fourth divi-
fion, which begins with the fixty-firft year,
are devoted to the enjoyment of the fruits of
his labours ; and the conclusion of the whole
is fpecilied to be a preparation for eternity.
The Andrometer is to be confidered as a
mere fketch, never intended for publication.
In the conftruclion of it, Mr. Jones probably
had a view to thofe objects, the attainment of
which he then meditated. We are not to
f J41
conclude, that the preparation for eternity.
which ftands at the top of the feale, was to
be deferred until the feventieth year ; it is
rather to be confidered as the object to which
he was perpetually to look, during the whole
courfe of his life, and which was exclnjively
to engrofs the attention of his latter years.
He was too well convinced of the precarious
tenure of human exiftence, to allow himfelf